MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Germany believes that the EU budget will not have to remain unchanged following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, Germany’s Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn said.
"There certainly is no automatic mechanism that other countries fill in for one country that decides to leave … But we can certainly discuss whether, and to what extent, parts of the U.K. contributions will be replaced eventually, which has to be decided jointly by all members states, particularly by the net payers," Spahn told the Politico media outlet.
"In the event that the Brexit negotiations will begin in spring 2017, the U.K. will leave the EU by mid-2019. In May of that same year, a new European Parliament will be elected, and we will have a new EU Commission. It makes sense to negotiate beforehand where we’re headed," Spahn said.
On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum, as a result of which the country decided to leave the 28-nation bloc. According to the final results, some 52 percent of voters supported Brexit. Following the referendum, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that she intended to trigger Article 50 on exiting the European Union by the end of March 2017.
